Reflections & Resources on Labour Day

In recent decades, anti-union efforts have not focussed overtly on race but on resentment toward public-sector workers, such as air-traffic controllers fired by the thousands by Ronald Reagan.

Photograph from Bettmann / Getty via The New Yorker

Perhaps it doesn't need to be mentioned, but we will still reiterate that the workplace is a predominant stressor for many. It's the case wether it's the environment in which we work, the workload, the commute, or the emotional or physicall toll of the work itself. So labour has a direct impact on our health, which is why we have compiled reflections & resources on this Labour Day for you to empower yourself in your work.

This is in recognition of the detrimental effects of unemployment and poverty on the public’s health;1,2. Also in realising further that the health status of populations is determined in large degree by income and living standards;3. And recognizing that union efforts to increase living standards of members has a positive effect on living standards of all workers;4. Lastly, in noting that the decline in the number of unionized workers over the past 20 years has been associated with a decline in average real wages for working people in this country;5, consequently causing a decline in the quality of life & health.

Protecting labour rights is protecting human rights & public health

Commentary on Then & Now

ON YOUR DAY OFF, LEARN ABOUT THE WORK OF OTHERS

For roughly five years, The New York Times has profiled people with a variety of jobs in its Vocations column. Some of those jobs are unusual, some are mundane, but all are performed by people with stories to tell. For Labor Day, they are revsiting selections.

A Labor Day Reflection on Unions, Race, and Division

Today, anti-union efforts largely center on stoking resentment toward public-sector employees. But, for much of American history, attacks on labor focussed on exploiting racial divisions among workers, via The New Yorker

The Shaming of Geoffrey Owens and the Inability to See Actors as Laborers, To

Resources

Did you know that there are innumerable benefits to unionising your workplace, from increasing access to better healthcare to protecting your basic labour rights? Organizing a union in your workplace is about getting more rights and more power. Thousands of working people—all across the country and in all kinds of jobs—organise unions every year because unions are the best way to secure the things you care about.

Here are resources below to support your workplace and colleagues in starting a union if you do not currently have one.

*The CWA doesn't just work in communications and information industries, but also in the news media, the airlines, broadcast and cable television, public service, higher education and health care, manufacturing, and public safety and law enforcement and more.